Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery… isn't it? I have to try and remind myself of this. I've taught soap making classes, just to have an ex-student a few booths down from me- trying to imitate me. Yesterday I had a wonderfully nice woman come by the booth and tell me that she is a soap maker too, only to admit "you're the one that gave me the idea to do it like this"…pointing to my lotion bars. As she picked out products to purchase I couldn't help wondering how many things I'd see on her table if I ever ran into her in the future. How many were "ideas" for her to copy.
Now I'm ok with "tweak". Even I have to start someplace, and it is usually a recipe from a friend or from an Internet site. Which I then make 20 variations of, and pick the best, and tweak it some more until I get it the way I want. It may end up like someone else's, but it really is more because of coincidence than a straight copy. Making 100's of something is fun, but it is the road to getting there, the R&D, that I love the most.
So every time this happens, I have to smile and blush, act all flattered, while inside I boil a little. Then I settle down and breathe, and recite "its flattering", "its flattering"….because I guess really it is.
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